Man's romantic gesture shuts down one of Houston's busiest freeways

A video posted on Instagram on Sunday, Dec. 14, 2015, showed a man proposing to a woman on Interstate 45 near downtown Houston while others blocked traffic. (mlwycoff on Instagram)

A video posted on Instagram on Sunday, Dec. 14, 2015, showed a man proposing to a woman on Interstate 45 near downtown Houston while others blocked traffic. (mlwycoff on Instagram)

Photo: Mlwycoff On Instagram

Photo: Mlwycoff On Instagram

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A video posted on Instagram on Sunday, Dec. 14, 2015, showed a man proposing to a woman on Interstate 45 near downtown Houston while others blocked traffic. (mlwycoff on Instagram)

A video posted on Instagram on Sunday, Dec. 14, 2015, showed a man proposing to a woman on Interstate 45 near downtown Houston while others blocked traffic. (mlwycoff on Instagram)

Photo: Mlwycoff On Instagram

Man's romantic gesture shuts down one of Houston's busiest freeways

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As residents waited in standstill I-45 traffic Sunday, some probably assumed it was a wreck causing the backup, or maybe a stalled car. But the culprit in the parking lot created on one of the busiest highways in Houston wasn't vehicle-related.

It was love.

In a video posted on Instagram, Vidal Valladares Navas enlisted his friends to stand in front of lanes of traffic while he proposed to his girlfriend Michelle Wycoff in the middle of the highway near downtown Houston.

"I just wanted to do something different," Valladares Navas said.

To get to a party Navas made up as a ruse, the couple took the highway, which is one of Wycoff's favorite spots. Navas took her on a motorcycle ride on freeway on their second date.

That's when Navas told his girlfriend of a year and half to get out of the car.

"I said, 'Are you serious?'" Wycoff said. "Then I saw all my family and friends with cameras and I looked where Vidal was and he was down on one knee.

"Honestly, I didn't think about if it was a good idea or a bad idea. I was just so happy in the moment. I love him so much."

Navas said his friends and family, who were following closely behind, stopped traffic for about 35 seconds while he popped the question

"I never really thought about causing an accident. I thought about my girlfriend," he said.

The hopeless romantic posted a photo of the proposal to Instagram with the caption, "When you shut down one of the biggest and busiest freeways in the entire country (I45) and you ask your girl if she wants to marry u, That moment is priceless love u #shesaidyes."

While the hashtag implies she said "yes" and a hug quickly ensued after he dropped to one knee, Wycoff's answer can't be heard in the video of the proposal over the sound of angry horns blaring behind the couple. The video can be viewed on Instagram.

Though Houston Police Department didn't have information about the traffic stop when contacted by the Houston Chronicle on Monday, upon investigation, HPD determined Tuesday morning that the only thing they will be handing down to the couple is congratulations.

"It appears we were not called to the scene and it more than likely happened quickly before our officers saw it on patrol," HPD spokesman Victor Senties said. "While we're happy for the couple, this is not something we would want to encourage anyone to do. People could have lost their lives stopping on the freeway like that."

However, that won't necessarily be the case for any copy-cats.

"If there was a similar scenario and the officers were called to the scene to witness it, the officers would tell them to clear the roadway and if they refused, they could be arrested with blocking a roadway, which is a Class B misdemeanor," Senties said.

Texas Department of Transportation agreed that the act was both against the law and dangerous.

"Besides being illegal it is incredibly unsafe and we would discourage anyone from taking such unnecessary risk which could result in injury to themselves or others," TxDOT spokeswoman Raquelle Lewis said.

But people on the Internet aren't as forgiving as HPD. Outcry about the dangers and inconvenience of the proposal surfaced on Reddit and social media.

It should go without saying that this is dangerous and shouldn't be replicated.